Where She Went | Book Review

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“Where She Went“ is a young adult contemporary. This is the second book in the duology by Gayle Forman. I have a full review on If I Stay, the first book. “Where She Went” is three years after “If I Stay” and in Adam, Mia’s boyfriends, perspective. We get to experience his emotions after the tragic crash and the aftermath of it all. Forman wrote in the same past and present format, jumping back and forth.

Rating this book difficult for me, just like the first book, but for different reasons. I’m going to rate it a 3.5 star, which is lower than the 4.5 I gave the first book. I did really like this book. Again, Gayle Forman wrote this book beautifully. Emotionally, I wasn’t as involved. I feel as if she could have written some of the emotional sides better. Adam is addicted to pills and smoking, and she showed that well in the beginning, but she didn’t show withdrawal. Over all, it was still a great, quick read. If you remember my first post introducing book reviews, a 3 star isn’t a bad review at all.

I really enjoy that Where She Went was in Adam’s point of view. She filled in some gaps of time such as the fact that Mia woke up three days after squeezing his hand. I’m really glad that Mia left, honestly, even though she did it in such a horrible way. After he relying on him so much in the first book, I’m glad she became herself. It’s weird to think they’re only 20–22 in this book though and so famous. They were 17 and 18 in the first book.

Adam was addicted to anxiety medication. This means it was more than likely Xanax. There’s no telling what dose he was on but he was taking quite a few pills. Even if she was making him relax on the mental side, he would’ve seen the physical withdrawals such as insomnia (which he slept like a baby) or sweating and shaking … he saw none of these … So even though I loved that Gayle Forman added in the anxiety and addiction side of things, I think she failed at the aftermath with writing in withdrawals that would’ve been bound to happen within that couple days span.

I really loved that he went to her concert though. It seemed like fate that there was one seat and that he was her “present” like the cello was her present after her first recital. She called him back to her dressing room, “Is it really you?”. That phrase goes full circle when he says the same thing in the end. “Is this real? Am allowed to hold this hand?” Granted, my thought when he said that was, damn right you better ask. heh.

What are your thoughts on her talking to her parents and “hearing” them? I know she thought her grandma was crazy in a sense … and they were back home. She doesn’t see them in animals like her Grandma does, so what do you think? I love that she had a fear of butterfly though all because of her grandmother’s theory of her being like a butterfly and going through a metamorphosis. This, in my opinion, would have been the car accident, the out-of-body-experience, and then coming back and leaving Adam.

I think Forman did a really good job at the contrast in emotion when they were on the bridge. The entire time we were hearing Adam’s “she left me”, “this is horrible” side of things, so when he finally broke and asked her if that’s why it was so easy for her to just leave without a word, I love her response of, “you made me stay … it would have been easier to die. I don’t want to die, but you made me stay. You begged me. You made me stay.” That’s when he realized that there was, as a five year old would say, no takesy-backsies. He could act like he never said those words. He couldn’t pretend like he made a promise that no one heard. He had to man up and just let her go, like he said. I like that he actually did that and Forman did well in doing that, but the immediate character change … I feel like it would have been harder. It was great that he took the iPod from the guy though!

I love that she bought his guitar and kept up with his career. She may have stopped communication but she never ignored him. He never got over her, but he tried to ignore her. It was opposites. “You?” “Always me.”